T-Bone

I spoke to Alex. He had me conduct a couple of tests that proved my ISO REGEN was not functioning correctly and I needed to send it in for repair.

On a whim, I decided to replace the USPCB board with a 6" USB cable and the DAC connected immediately. I tried swapping the USPCB in/out with both the VBUS switch on and off. It didn't make a difference. Replacing the USPCB with a cable was the only way to make things work. So why would the USPCB board make a difference?

I've used my LPS powered ISO Regen with my Singxer/Holo Spring DAC for a long time. ...and have been happy with the results. I recently upgraded to Chord Qutest. I can't get the Qutest to work w/ the ISO Regen in USB signal path. The Quest only works when its USB input is plugged directly into the PC. Any advice?

Now that does look interesting! Thanks for sharing. I suspect that device will get quite a following here.

Maybe the USB output of my laptop was crap. I did a lot of testing comparing straight USB, AES and I2S through my Singxer and into my Holo. I2S was the clear winner. AES was a close second and USB was by far the least favorite. Either way, if your USB sounds good to you - rock on! You are right the AK4118A is used in the SPIDF and AES. I was mistaken. The point remains the same, I2S skips a receiver chipset and is one less conversion of your audio signal before hitting the DAC chip.

I've got the Holo Spring DAC too and I am on the record as not being a fan of its USB implementation at all. In my listening tests, I found the USB input to be the worst performer. I feel that Holo's USB implementation is its Achilles' heel. Using the I2S input bypasses the internal AK4118A receiver and pretty much sends the signal straight to the digital/analog conversion. That's why I'm keen to streamline my signal path and get rid of the "daisy-chain" of USB devices. So to hear you say that you prefer the SOTM's USB output into you DAC is a bit of a shock. ....trust your ears. If that's what sounds best to you - enjoy it! Now that I'm sold on I2S as the "best" input on my DAC and in my system, I'm trying to find out how to get the "best" quality I2S signal. I'm not sure if that will be a USB chain terminated by an SU-1 or perhaps it starts life as an Ethernet signal and terminates with a Mano ULTRA.

That's exactly the kind of "daisy chain" that I'm trying to get away from! An SMS-200 feeding a Singxer will probably sound great - but defeats the stated purpose of getting USB out of the signal path. ...now if the Sotm SMS-200 had an I2S output - it would be a different story. You stuff your music into Ethernet packets, unpack them in the SOTM, packetize them again in USB, push them through a Singxer SU-1 unpack them again, reclock everything and then push it out via I2S. I'm trying to get to *ONE* device to feed my DAC!

I think most of us would agree that connecting your DAC via USB pretty much sucks. If it didn't, there wouldn't be a growing market for isolators, decrapifiers, regenerators and digital converters. To get an I2S signal into my DAC I use a Singxer SU-1 to convert a USB input signal to I2S output. Magni HiFi is now selling an updated version of their streamer, the Mano ULTRA. (link) The Mano ULTRA takes an Ethernet input and creates an I2S output. I'm wondering which of these two devices is going to give me the BEST performance? The Mano ULTRA is supposed to have improvements in power distribution, better capacitors, an upgraded power supply and an improved reclocking circuit. I have zero experience with the original Mano or the new and improved Mano Ultra. I thought I'd bring my question to the group for feedback.

Does anyone know what has changed from the original Mano (thank you @diecaster) and the "new" Mano Ultra? The web site isn't terribly clear what differentiates the two products.

I think I may have found what I've been looking for. Today I learned about the Mano ULTRA music streamer. LINK It's Ethernet in and I2S out - just what I was asking for! I don't really know too much about this device yet, but it looks promising. I've grown frustrated having to "decrapify" USB signals with isolators, regenerators and digital converters. I've been looking for an "Ethernet in, I2S out" device that will let me dodge the entire USB signal path. If there's a hiccup, perhaps it's that this device doesn't offer integral WiFi - you need a dongle. How much do you want to bet that the WiFi dongle is USB?!?!

Wow - that looks interesting. Maybe a little above my skill set, but very interesting. Please let us know how it performs when you’ve got it running.

Thanks for the insight gentlemen! That was very useful.

Thanks for the tip - the Wavedream Net looks very interesting, but what a price tag! Even used they were asking $8k! A used Sonore Signature Rendu is looking like my best option.

The Rockna Wavedream is DAC, not a streamer. The original sonore rendu was the only device I recall having what I needed. too bad they don't make it any more.

I am trying to find a network streamer with I2S output. Unfortunately, I haven't found what I'm looking for yet. Perhaps someone here can recommend a product that I'm not yet familiar with. I want to pair a network streamer with a Holo Spring DAC which has an I2S input. Before someone suggests it, I do NOT want to add digital-to-digital converter like the Singxer SU-1 between a streamer and a DAC in order to convert USB to I2S. My ultimate solution is a Wi-Fi / Ethernet input and I2S output. My "dream product" would be a Sonore ultraRendu with I2S output.